Women got a ‘pay equity discount’ at this Greenwood diner for International Women’s Day

In honor of International Women’s Day, North Star Diner in Greenwood took 21 percent off the bill for customers who identify as female Wednesday.

Tony Lombardi, who co-owns the diner with his friend, said the idea came from his wife, who’s also a co-owner and works for the ACLU. She was inspired by research that’s shown that women who work full time earn 79 cents for every dollar a man makes.

So, she said, what if they could close that earning gap by giving women 21 percent off their bill, so they’re only paying 79 percent?

“If you’re only gonna make 79 cents on the dollar, then you’re only gonna have to pay 79 percent,” Tony said.

(There’s been some criticism of this often-used statistic, which you can read more about here and here).